La Crosse Promise Build Program Policies

(Dependent Children)

La Crosse Promise hopes to attract conscientious, education-minded, success-driven homebuyers to the City. We seek to reverse the decades-long trend of declining enrollment in the School District of La Crosse and simultaneously rejuvenate the housing market in the City of La Crosse.

La Crosse Promise is currently prioritizing applicants who build, or are the first occupants of a new single-family home within the Powell-Poage-Hamilton neighborhood or the Washburn neighborhood. The family would contribute a minimum of $150,000 toward the project, through personal resources or market-rate financing.

The total maximum lifetime scholarship for an individual student is $25,000. The maximum lifetime amount awarded to a La Crosse Promise Build Family is $50,000.

Steps to apply and eventually secure status as a La Crosse Promise Build Family:

Submit a Preliminary Application. The La Crosse Promise Scholarship Committee will determine eligibility and evaluate whether the application best supports current program goals. In most cases, applicants will be notified of their selection as a conditionally approved applicant within ten business days of submission. La Crosse Promise will hold the scholarship for the applicant as the applicant completes the remaining requirements in the stated timeline.

Within four months of notification of selection as a conditionally approved applicant, the La Crosse Promise Build Family directs their lending institution to provide La Crosse Promise with a letter confirming they have qualified for a mortgage for that particular location. If building a home, a copy of the blueprint/construction appraisal should be submitted to La Crosse Promise, along with supporting contractor bids and/or a copy of a signed contract with a builder/general contractor.

The family must complete the construction project within one year of selection. Upon completion, the La Crosse Promise Build Family directs their lending institution to provide La Crosse Promise a letter confirming they have met their bank’s requirements and have fulfilled their construction loan obligations. A copy of the recertification of value, or second appraisal, must also be submitted to La Crosse Promise.

If purchasing a new, previously unoccupied home from a contractor who has received La Crosse Promise Build Eligibility, the family will provide La Crosse Promise with a copy of the deed.

When the above documents have been submitted and approved, the family will receive a letter confirming their status as a La Crosse Promise Scholarship Family. The student’s scholarship will be awarded after the remaining scholarship and residency policies have been met.

Other Information: The La Crosse Promise Build Scholarship Program supports construction projects resulting in a final appraised value of at least $150,000 (including land), with the family contributing a minimum of $150,000 toward the project in personal and/or loan funds.

If a family does not complete one of the above steps within the stated timeline, it loses La Crosse Promise Build status. The family may reapply when ready to move forward to complete the steps. In case of demonstrated hardship, an appeal may be made to La Crosse Promise for an extension.

Applicants for phase one of this program may include qualifying construction occurring since August 13, 2015.

In order to improve the home’s marketability, La Crosse Promise will allow a one-time transfer of the scholarship asset to the home’s next qualified buyer, subject to program rules.

La Crosse Promise families agree to allow La Crosse Promise to take photos to record the progress of their project for the purpose of documenting and illustrating the program’s impact.

La Crosse Promise Renovate Policies

La Crosse Promise is currently prioritizing applicants who renovate a single-family home within the Powell-Poage-Hamilton neighborhood or the Washburn neighborhood.

The total maximum lifetime scholarship for an individual student is $25,000. The maximum lifetime amount awarded to a La Crosse Promise Renovate Family is $50,000.

Families are also permitted to apply for the La Crosse Promise Renovate Scholarship if they purchase and are the first occupants of a newly remodeled La Crosse Promise Eligible home from a builder/contractor.

Steps to apply and eventually secure status as a La Crosse Promise Renovate Family

Submit a Preliminary Application. Attach a separate page explaining your intended projects for both the interior and exterior of the home. Include a photo of the home’s exterior, and a copy of a pre-qualification letter from your lending institution that is less than six months old . The La Crosse Promise Scholarship Committee will determine eligibility and evaluate whether the application best supports current program goals. In some cases, outside realtors and appraisers will be asked to evaluate planned improvements to determine if the proposed project will sufficiently increase the home’s value. In most cases, applicants will be notified of their selection as a conditionally approved applicant within ten business days of submission. La Crosse Promise will hold the scholarship for the applicant as the applicant completes the remaining requirements in the stated timeline.

Within four months of being selected as a conditionally approved applicant, the La Crosse Promise Renovate Family directs their lending institution to provide La Crosse Promise with a letter confirming they have qualified for financing for that particular location. (If purchasing a newly renovated home, skip to step 5.) A copy of the blueprint/construction appraisal should be submitted to La Crosse Promise, along with copies of the cost break out for the improvements. In addition, supporting contractor bids and/or a copy of a signed contract with a builder/general contractor must be submitted.

The La Crosse Promise Renovate Family must complete the renovation project within one year of selection. Upon completion, the La Crosse Promise Renovate Family directs their lending institution to provide La Crosse Promise a letter confirming they have met their bank’s requirements and have fulfilled their construction loan obligations. A copy of the recertification of value, or second appraisal, must also be submitted to La Crosse Promise.

If purchasing a newly renovated La Crosse Promise-Eligible home from a contractor that has received La Crosse Promise Renovate Eligibility, the family will provide La Crosse Promise a copy of the deed.

When the above documents have been submitted and approved, the family will receive a letter confirming their status as a La Crosse Promise Scholarship Family. The student’s scholarship will be awarded after the remaining scholarship and residency policies have been met.

Other information:

The La Crosse Promise Renovation Program supports projects resulting in an expected increase in appraised value to at least $150,000, and include an expected increase of a minimum of $50,000 more than the home’s initial value. The home’s current city assessment needs to be lower than $150,000 prior to the improvements taking place.

In the event that a home is being converted from a multi-unit rental property to a single family dwelling, the home is permitted to have a starting assessed value greater than $150,000. Since a multi-family rental is often appraised higher due to its income potential, La Crosse Promise will waive the requirement that the project be expected to increase the appraised value to at least $150,000, but will require a minimum expected increase of $50,000 on the blue print appraisal.

Applicants for this phase of the program may include qualifying improvements incurred since August 13, 2015.

If a family does not complete one of the above steps within the stated timeline, it loses La Crosse Promise Renovate status. The family may reapply when ready to move forward to complete the steps. In case of demonstrated hardship, an appeal may be made to La Crosse Promise for an extension.

In order to improve the home’s marketability, La Crosse Promise will allow a one-time transfer of the scholarship asset to the home’s next qualified buyer, subject to program rules.

La Crosse Promise families agree to provide “before and after” photos of their renovation project upon request. In addition, La Crosse Promise families agree to allow La Crosse Promise to take photos to record the progress of their project for the purpose of documenting and marketing the program.

The parent/guardian must reside in the La Crosse Promise home for at least four years before their oldest scholarship recipient can be eligible for a scholarship. If selling the home, they must continue to remain a resident of the City of La Crosse until the youngest scholarship recipient has graduated from a qualifying high school. Scholarship benefits are not transferrable to the home’s next owner.

La Crosse Promise Scholars must be legal dependents of the home’s owner.

La Crosse Promise Scholarship recipients must live in the City of La Crosse from grades 9 through 12, at a minimum.

The La Crosse Promise Scholar must be enrolled in one of La Crosse’s public high schools, or Aquinas or Onalaska Luther High School during all four years of high school, as verified through school records. In the event that a student must withdraw from high school, a GED or HSED must be earned by the age of 21, providing that the student spent the majority of their high school years attending a qualifying high school.

Scholarship and Residency Policies for Dependent Children

If children are added to a family after the initial La Crosse Promise application was submitted, the parent or guardian should register the child with La Crosse Promise within one year of the child’s first year of school attendance.

During their high school years, La Crosse Promise Scholars must meet with Future Center Advisors at least twice, complete the FAFSA, and apply for at least three other scholarships.

Scholarships must be used for a Federal financial aid eligible graduate or undergraduate program at an institution of post-secondary education in the United States that is regionally accredited.

Students must be enrolled full-time (typically 12 credits or more).

Like many national Promise initiatives, students enrolling in two-year programs receive a smaller scholarship, due to the lower cost of attendance at those schools. Full-time students attending two-year programs can receive up to $3,000 per year. Full-time students attending four-year programs can receive up to $6,250 per year. Students transferring from a two-year program to a four-year program may begin receiving up to $6,250 per year once enrolled in the four-year program.

At the time of college enrollment, the parent or guardian will notify La Crosse Promise as to how their scholarship dollars should be distributed among their dependents. No one student may receive more than $25,000 total in La Crosse Promise Scholarships.

Each term, La Crosse Promise will send scholarship dollars directly to the college where the La Crosse Scholar is enrolled. The college’s financial aid office will include the scholarship as part of the student’s financial aid package.

La Crosse Promise Scholars must remain in good academic standing with their college to receive future semester funding.